Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
National Recreation Reservation Service
(
&
877/444-6777
or 518/885-3639;
www.reserveusa.com).
WHERE TO DINE
There aren't a whole lot of dining options in the vicinity of the monument, but
not to be missed are the berry cobblers served at the
19 Mile House,
9440 Spirit
Lake Hwy., Toutle (
&
360/274-8779
), which is 19 miles up the Spirit Lake
Highway (Wash. 504) and is open from April or May until October. They've got
good burgers here, too. Other options include the
Mount St. Helens Restaurant
at the Hoffstadt Bluffs Visitor Center (Spirit Lake Hwy. milepost 27) and the
restaurant at the Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center (Spirit Lake Hwy. milepost 43).
8 The Columbia Gorge & the Mount Adams Area
Stevenson: 45 miles E of Vancouver, 25 miles W of White Salmon
The Columbia Gorge, which begins a few miles east of Vancouver, Washington,
and extends eastward for nearly 70 miles, cuts through the Cascade Range and
connects the rain-soaked west-side forests with the sagebrush scrublands of eastern
Washington. This change in climate is caused by moist air condensing into snow
and rain as it passes over the crest of the Cascades. Most of the air's moisture falls
on the western slopes, so that the eastern slopes and the land stretching for hun-
dreds of miles beyond lie in what's called a rain shadow. Perhaps nowhere else on
earth can you witness this rain-shadow effect so clearly. Between the two extremes
lies a community of plants that's unique to the Columbia Gorge, and springtime
in the gorge sees colorful displays of wildflowers, many of which occur naturally
only here in the Columbia Gorge.
The Columbia River is older than the hills. It's older than the mountains, too.
And it's this great age that accounts for the river's dramatic gorge through the
Cascades. The mountains have actually risen up
around
the river. Although the
river's geologic history dates back 40 million years or so, it was a series of recent
events, geologically speaking, that gave the Columbia Gorge its very distinctive
appearance. About 15,000 years ago, toward the end of the last Ice Age, in what
is now Montana, huge glacial ice dams burst and sent floodwaters racing down
the Columbia. As the floodwaters swept through the Columbia Gorge, they
were as much as 1,200 feet high. Ice and rock carried by the floodwaters helped
the river scour out the sides of the once gently sloping valley, leaving behind the
steep-walled gorge that we know today. The waterfalls that elicit so many oohs
and aahs are the most dramatic evidence of these great floods. In 1986, much of
this area was designated the
Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area
to preserve
its spectacular and unique natural beauty.
As early as 1915 a scenic highway was built through the gorge on the Oregon
side. However, while the Oregon side of the Gorge has the spectacular waterfalls
and scenic highway and tends to get all the publicity, it is actually from the Wash-
ington side, along
Wash. 14,
that you get the best views. From this highway the
views take in both the southern wall of the Columbia Gorge and the snowcapped
summit of Mount Hood. It is also on the Washington side of the Gorge, in Steven-
son, that you'll find the informative Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center.
Roughly 45 miles north of the Columbia Gorge rises Mount Adams, which,
at 12,276 feet in elevation, is the second-highest peak in Washington. However,
because it is so inaccessible from Puget Sound and can't be seen from most of
Portland (the nearest metropolitan area), it remains one of the least visited major
